Chapter Sixteen
Breanna slipped throughthe back door at Cuervos. The parking lot was already full for a Friday night. She’d made it a point to drive around the lot and the front and back of the bar before she parked and went inside. She’d been looking for Steel’s motorcycle, telling herself that she hoped he wasn’t there, and then dealing with the disappointment when she realized he wasn’t. That’s the way the past few days had gone with her, a back and forth ofI hope I never see him againandI wish he’d call.Whenever she called the rehab center to get an update on Chenoa’s progress, her heart always melted when the staff told her how much time Steel spent with his daughter. Dr. Turner, who ran the rehab facility through the hospital, told her it’d been a long time since he’d seen a father as devoted and determined to help his daughter.
A man who loves his daughter as much as he does can’t be all bad, can he? And he’s great with his mother. So why the fuck is he acting like a jerk with me?
She stuffed her tote into her locker and slammed it shut. Glancing in the mirror, she touched up her lip gloss and tried to pull down her skirt. She did it each time she wore the short spandex skirt, and each time it stayed exactly the same length.
I better get some good tips tonight to make this shit worth it.
“Hey, Breanna, how’re you doing?” Jorge asked as he handed two patrons their drinks at the bar. “We’re gonna be slammed all night. I hired another waitress the other day. Her name’s Mindy. That should help you and Jill out.”
“That’ll be a big help.” She smiled and walked into the crowd.
A couple of hours into her shift, Breanna had already made a little over a hundred dollars in tips. She knew the attention she gave the guys helped her get more than the standard 10 percent, so she flirted with them and made them feel special. She never crossed the line, and for the most part, the men were tame and respectful. If she had to bend down a little lower than normal when she set down or picked up the drinks from the table, then so be it. She needed the money, and standing on high heels for eight hours was sheer torture.
She approached a table of three businessmen dressed in jackets and ties. She hadn’t seen them in the bar before, so she figured they weren’t locals, probably staying at the small hotel down the street. Setting three coasters down, she smiled. “What can I get for you gentlemen?”
One of the men, who wore a navy jacket and khaki pants, grinned at her. “You’re a pretty one. Do you have any specials?” The other two men gazed at her cleavage.
“We have killer nachos for four ninety-nine, wings in original and chipotle sauce, all mixed drinks are half price until ten, and we have ten beers on tap.”
“What do you recommend?”
“The nachos are awesome, but I’m not a wing girl, and all the tap beers are excellent. The bar’s known for it.”
“What kind of girl are you?” the man sitting across the table asked. He looked to be in his thirties and sported a beard and stylish haircut.
“A hardworking one.” She took their orders and squeezed through the crowd to hand them to Jorge.
He glanced at it and smiled. “The nachos are a big hit tonight.”
“I keep pushing them.” She laughed and placed the drinks Jorge had made for one of her other tables onto the round tray. When she picked up the heavy tray, both Jill and Jorge yelled out. She stopped in her tracks. “What’s wrong?”
“Your wrist looks like it’s ready to break,” Jill said, her eyes filled with shock.
“The damn tray’s too heavy,” Jorge said as he leaned over and quickly took off some of the drinks. “Come back and get these. It’s not worth hurting yourself.”
“What? It’s not that heavy.”
“Doesn’t your wrist hurt?” Jill asked as she absentmindedly rubbed hers.
Breanna looked at them and then started to laugh. “No, it’s fine. I’m double-jointed in my wrists and hands. I’ve been like that since I was a kid, so I forget how weird it looks to other people. Don’t worry about it. It’s just the way I’m built.” She grabbed the drinks Jorge took off and placed them back on the tray.
“You sure that’s normal?” he asked.
“It is for me. Really, it’s fine,” she said to Jorge’s and Jill’s doubtful faces. “I’m good. See?” She lifted the tray and walked away laughing.
The businessmen consumed two orders of nachos, baskets of wings, and taquitos along with numerous glasses of beer. She figured she’d receive a big tip from their table. She’d learned that they were comptrollers from Kansas and they were in town overseeing the accounting operations of the Alina National Bank.
By the time she placed another round of beers in front of them, they were inebriated. As she turned to leave, one of the men grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him. “How about a little kiss from our favorite waitress?”
She smiled and tried to pull out of his grasp. “If I do that, I’ll have to do it to all the guys.”
“You can treat us special since we’re out-of-towners.”
“That wouldn’t be fair, would it?” she said.
“It isn’t fair that you’ve been teasing us all night, honey,” the man in the navy jacket said.
